Travel | Destinations

Kids top the list of flight irritations

A survey on what annoys passengers on aircraft shows people were willing to pay extra for to sit in a ‘child-free zone’ or away from naughty children

Daily Mail

Published: 15:04 July 18, 2013

Forget check-in queues, delays and lost luggage — sitting near naughty children is the greatest irritation when travelling by aeroplane, a survey found.

One in three of us would pay extra to sit in a child-free zone on flights, while half think airlines should have on-board crèches.

The survey by comparison website Gocompare.com quizzed 2,000 people on the things that annoy them the most when they fly.

Children kicking the back of seats topped the list of irritations, while youngsters crying or being unruly ranked second. Such is the strength of feeling, that one in four of respondents said they would pay up to £50 (Dh280) extra per return flight to sit in a child-free zone, and a further 7 per cent would fork out more than £50 to keep away from children.

Drunken passengers were third on the list of in-flight irritants, with 49 per cent agreeing that alcohol should be banned on aeroplanes. Surely cabin crew put a dampener on the holiday spirit of 41 per cent of respondents, making it the fourth most annoying aspect of flying.

Sitting next to talkative strangers and poor quality in-flight meals ranked fifth and sixth on the list, while seeing someone get a free upgrade came in eighth place.

Ninth on the list was being chatted up by a stranger, while boring in-flight films came in tenth place.